Friday, June 16, 2006

By Request, September...

Warning - this post may inspire you to get your groove on...or it may make a certain song play over and over again in your head (wink).

This bitch is ready for the weekend, baby!

C-Money has tossed out a request.

Do you remember…back in the day….September?As most of you know, C-Money is my sister. Our older brother, Bill, is autistic and we are his co-guardians. For the uninitiated, autism is a spectrum disease that impacts social development and all manner of shit. Bill is on the profound end of the spectrum.Growing up with an autistic brother was our normal. Oh, you can fantasize all you want about how calm and serene other people’s home life must have been, but your reality is your normal and the rest is speculation. In our home, twirling fits of frustration, fecally inspired abstract wall murals, a two year front lawn middle of the day nudity fixation and music inspired outbursts of fantastical joy were totally normal (wink).

And y’all wonder why a bitch ain’t right?

Anyhoo, one of the quirks of Bill’s autism is that he latches onto things obsessively.

It is all a blur now…when it began. Was it in the car? Or was it over a long weekend with the radio blaring classic R & B? Although a bitch can not pinpoint the exact moment in time, somehow and somewhere my brother Bill fell in love with Earth, Wind and Fire’s September.Mmmhmmm.

In loooooooove.

Specifically, in love with the chorus…which he sang repeatedly…over and over and over again…anywhere and everywhere…in full voice, hitting each note with freakish precision…for years.

Ba de ya - say do you remember Ba de ya - dancing in September Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day

Now, Bill is aphasic and he never sang the words…just the notes. Over and over again, anywhere and everywhere for years.

Sometimes there would be a lull…a pause in this musical obsession…and we would walk softly in hopes of not inspiring September’s return. But Magic 104.9 FM fucked us year after year with their play list…September may not have always been in high rotation, but they played it with just enough frequency to trigger Bill on a regular basis.

Shit.

And so it went, for years. C-Money and this bitch’s reaction to September traces the evolution of our relationship with Bill. Embarrassment and the shame of being embarrassed, annoyance and the strange comfort to being totally annoyed with our older brother just like our friends...disgust at Bill’s ability to sing September at the top of his lungs in McDonald’s just as Lisa So & So from the 'it clique' waltzed in.

Ugh!

Then Bill moved out and into residential treatment and we went to college and life got lived.

Sigh.

Eventually we returned to Missouri and took on the task of co-guardianship. And, sure ‘nough, they still play September on the radio on a weekly basis here!

Bill has moved on musically. Currently, he has a fondness for all things Stevie Wonder and early Hip Hop.

Honestly, a bitch hasn’t heard him indulge in a September festival of noise in a long time.

But Earth, Wind & Fire performed on The Today Show this morning…the first song was September...and C-Money and this bitch got our groove on.

Things have come full circle and when we hear September we've just got to smile.

It makes me think of Bill and his ability to express absolute joy...every single time.

Yeah, we remember.

My thoughts are with you Holding hands with your heart to see you Only blue talk and love, Remember how we knew love was here to stay Now December found the love that we shared in September. Only blue talk and love, Remember the true love we share today Ba de ya - say do you remember Ba de ya - dancing in September Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day Ba de ya - say do you remember Ba de ya - dancing in September Ba de ya - golden dreams were shiny days!

I wonder how many times a day the average person subconsciously stifles the urge to belt out the chorus to September. Heaven knows I've been biting my own tongue on that one since I was what, 8 years old? There are a few song-belters around here, and [with the appreciable distance of not being a caretaker] it's almost always a bonus to get out of standard communication mode and groove on someone else's*. Some day I might have to try unleashing the urge. * Aphasia, on top of everything? Holy mother of pearl - no wonder you're such a great communicator.